ALEC Action Letter in Support of Amy Coney Barrett’s SCOTUS Confirmation

Dear Members of the U.S. Senate and the Senate Committee on the Judiciary,

On behalf of ALEC Action, we urge you to swiftly confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court. ALEC Action is the advocacy partner of the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC Action helps lawmakers set and express policy priorities by connecting people, ideas, and real plans of action that promote principles of federalism, free markets, limited governments, individual liberty, and free enterprise.

One of the key components safeguarding these principles is the judiciary system at both the federal and state level. Judicial systems, when filled with principled jurists who believe it is their role to interpret the text of laws and constitutions while refraining from making policy, form the bedrock of a free, successful society.

Judge Barrett has promised to be such a jurist. She stated during her introduction and during her confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that she believes it is “never appropriate for a judge to impose [her] personal convictions on the law” and that she will apply the law and Constitution to cases before her as written.

Particularly important for ALEC’s members, who are citizen legislators, Judge Barrett has demonstrated a firm grasp on constitutional doctrines such as separation of powers, reining in the administrative state, and more. For example, in 2017 she wrote that “Courts are not always heroes and legislatures are not always villains. They are both capable of doing good, and they are both capable of doing harm.”

When jurists such as Judge Barrett recognize the limitations of judicial power and the constitution, they empower legislators, both federal and state, to act upon their constitutional duties to establish policy and make law.

In addition to her support for these constitutional principles, Judge Barrett’s academic qualifications are impeccable. She graduated from Rhodes College with her undergraduate degree, received her law degree, summa cum laude from Notre Dame Law School where she received multiple honors and later returned to teach. She clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman and the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

Finally, President Trump nominated Judge Barrett to serve on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals three years ago. During the Senate’s confirmation process, she received bipartisan support.

Because of her qualification, adherence to interpreting the text of statutes and the Constitution, and her recent bipartisan confirmation to the Court of Appeals, there is nothing that should stand in the way of a swift confirmation.

Signed,

Lisa B. Nelson

CEO, ALEC

Michael Bowman

President, ALEC Action